The first step for a good make-up

The first step in caring for your skin externally, is cleansing. Perspiration, grease, dust, stale make-up, dirt and bacteria all collect on your skin and must be removed completely. As an artist prepares a canvas, a woman must prepare her skin for good make-up. The first step in make-up is cleansing.

Soap and water removes most of the impurities but it does not remove make-up completely, hence cleansing is required. Foundations and powders are designed to remain on the skin as long as possible. If you wear make-up during the day, the first step in cleansing your skin at night should be with a cleanser of some kind: cleanser must be massaged in to the skin with a light up ward and outward movement, paying particular attention to the creases of the nose, under chin area, neck and ear lobes.

It is necessary that the cotton wool used for cleansing is moist, as dry cotton wool absorbs moisture from the skin. Repeat the cleansing process two or three times until the tissue is clean. The heavier the make-up you have been wearing, the more times you will have to cleanse your skin. If your skin is too much greasy or blemished, you may follow your cleansing by washing with soap and water using a medicated soap and rinsing very thoroughly with clean water.

CLEANSING CREAMS

Cleansing creams are used not only to lift the dust, but also to remove stale make-up. Make –up has a waxy base which cannot be properly penetrated and cleansed simply by using soap and water. A cleansing cream or lotion is essential for this. Cleanser should be applied with an upward movement and kept on the skin for about half a minute, so that it could dissolve the make-up. Then remove with a tissue or damp cotton wool. Remember, stale make-up and the day’s dirt and grime not only clog the pores of the skin causing blackheads, but also eventually coarsen the skin. Here are a few cleansing creams which are very easy and quick to make.

An Easy to Make Cleansing Cream

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon beeswax

1 tablespoon emulsifying was

4 tablespoons baby oil

2 tablespoons coconut oil

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon borax

1 tablespoon witch-hazel, and

a few drops of perfume

Mix the waxes and oils in to an enamel bowl and melt slowly in a pan of boiling water. In a separate bowl heat the water and borax until the borax is completely dissolved. Then add witch-hazel, but do not leave it on the heat too long otherwise it will evaporate. When the waxes have melted, remove both bowls from the heat and mix in water, stirring continuously. When the cream begins to cool, add the perfume. Beat until the mixture thickens and cools. Use of baby oil (Which is a mineral oil) does not penetrate the skin and spreads easily and liquefies readily.

Rose water Cleansing Cream

Galen, a Greek physician of the 2nd century, made this cleansing cream with the following ingredients:

1 1/2 tablespoon beeswax or white paraffin wax

1 tablespoon emulsifying wax

4 tablespoons mineral oil

6 tablespoons rose water

1/2 teaspoon borax, and

A few drops of rose oil (perfume)

Melt the waxes and oil together, and at the same time heat the water and borax and make sure that the borax is completely dissolved. Remove both bowls from the heat and pour water in to the oil. Continue stirring until a white cream starts to form. Add a few drop of rose oil when the mixture begins to cool. Carry on beating until the mixture thickens.

Cucumber Cleansing Cream

Ingredients:

3 teaspoons bees wax

4 teaspoons coconut oil

5 teaspoons mineral oil or olive oil

4 tablespoons cucumber juice

1 teaspoon glycerin

a pinch of borax

1 drop green coloring

Melt the oils and wax in the usual ways over a pan of boiling water. Simultaneously heat the cucumber juice, glycerin, coloring and borax in a separate bowl. Ensure that the borax dissolves thoroughly. When the contents of both the bowls are melted and warm, add water drop by drop to oil stirring continuously. Now remove it from the heat and beat until the mixture thickens and cools. Keep the cream in the refrigerator as cucumber juice gets bad quickly. Make the cream in a small quantity.

Violet cleansing Cream

Ingredients:

1/2 tablespoon lanolin

1 tablespoon petroleum jelly

4 tablespoons mineral oil

10 tablespoons water, and

5 drops violet extract

Melt the oils and heat the water, then mixes them together slowly, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and continue to beat together. It can also be used as a body lotion.